No figure of modern French history is as honored as Charles de Gaulle. His name has been given to more streets, avenues and monuments in France than to any other man of the nation’s past. The country’s largest airport bears his name. French politicians – right, left and center – invoke his name and claim... Read More

In retrospect, it becomes clear that the Cold War “communist threat� was only a pretext for great powers seeking more power. Ceremonies were held last week commemorating the 80th anniversary of Operation Overlord, the Anglo-American landing on the beaches of Normandy that took place on June 6, 1944, known as D-Day. For the very first... Read More

Like Raymond Aron, we believe we need to distinguish between power and might. Power is the organization that makes might effective, but power can also become impotent, meaning that power without might is nothing. Keeping this in mind, let’s start our anthology 1 – 1965 Konrad Adenauer, “One should not underestimate the might of the... Read More

Some readers have trouble with long articles. When my recent review of the second volume of David Irving’s Churchill’s War hit 2,500 words, I broke it off. Among the interesting information left unreported are Churchill’s cover up of the Katyn massacre by the Soviets of thousands of Polish officers, a coverup continued as late as... Read More

Charles de Gaulle remains the most celebrated French statesman of the twentieth century. Whatever you think of his legacy – and this is open to legitimate debate[2] – he was, among democratic politicians, a truly epic figure. He would prove a source of inspiration for the more thoughtful American statesmen, such as Henry Kissinger and... Read More

This biography of Charles de Gaulle by Julian Jackson prompted both the conservative Federalist and the leftist New Statesman to run articles called “How Charles de Gaulle Made France Great Again.� The general supposedly reconciled the political tribes of Left and Right into a “certain idea of France.� In Conrad Black’s words, he “settled the... Read More